End of Year Stress for Students & How to Cope Using Natural Methods by Amy Reissner Holistic RN

Rye Schools & all the Westchester School District students, from middle school to high school, are preparing for final exams, regents exams, and AP exams. 

This creates a myraid of stress responses in the students as well as within the family, as everyone wants good results. Some of the Stress Reactions might be:

1. Insomnia-difficulty in falling asleep or staying asleep
2. Disordered eating-this might range from emotional eating (form of self-soothing or nurturing) to junk food binging to skipping meals
3. Moodiness, grumpiness, irritability, rudeness, frustration
4. Procrastination
5. Fingernail-biting
6. Acne break-outs
7. Missed periods-hormones can be affected by stress causing amenorrhea (missed period) or dysmenorrhea (painful period).

What can students do if they are feeling stressed out by exams? These are some of the techniques that I use with my clients in my Vital Essence Healing Practice.

I welcome you to try some of these VERY EFFECTIVE Holistic & Natural Tools for RELAXING the Mind & the Body:

1. Breathing Techniques-this is one of the simplest tools for students and their families to use. This is done simply by closing your eyes and focusing on deep breathing..."chest rising and falling, rising and falling" and/or focusing on the breath inhalations and exhalations...."in through the nose and out through the mouth". Just concentrating on this and nothing else. One might start with 5 minutes prior to school, prior to studying, before going to sleep at night, and first thing in the morning!
2. Body Awareness or Body Scan-To begin you can simply tighten every single muscle in your body from your head, face, neck, shoulders, back, buttocks, arms, hands and all the way down to your legs, feet and toes. Hold tightly for about 1 minute...and then Do the Opposite. This means... tuning into your body and starting from the top of your head...totally FEEL each and every muscle relax...paying particular attention to the face, jaw, neck and shoulders...and letting all the muscles LOOOSEN & LET Go! You might also combine the Deep Breathing as you Loosen the Muscles. You can do this in a chair, or lying down. It is very effective!
3. Meditation-There are many different forms of Meditation. I taught this class to the LIVE STRONG Group at the RYE YMCA this pas Fall, and people were very relaxed! You can focus on: Breathing, a Word or Mantra (OMMMM), Affirmations ("I am relaxed in this moment. I am prepared. I am knowledgable. I will do my very best.")
4. Visualization-There are many ways to do this: A mental vacation...seeing yourself in your favorite summer spot...either at camp with your favorite friends having a great time, swimming at the pool or lounging at the beach, listening to your favorite music! This will put you in a calm state of mind.
5. FANTASTIC PRE-PAVING VISUALIZATION FOR YOUR EXAMS: You might imagine yourself taking the test, seeing yourself relaxed, filling out the answer sheet, or writing the essays...knowing exactly how to express your best response, feeling happy and successful at how well you know the material, and receiving good grades for your effort! Seeing is believing. Your mind does not know the difference between imagination and reality. The FEEL-GOOD Hormones or Endorphins are released either way!
6. Guided Relaxation: Either purchasing a CD or downloading a selection online could be very helpful. Another way is to find a professional health coach trained in this work so that they might take you through any of the above steps in order to support you through the process.

I taught many stress reduction tools to Mr. Tolve's 8th grade Health Classes at Rye Middle School this year. The students found them very effective and helpful!

You might want to additionally check out the following articles:

My Holistic Health Column sharing Energy Medicine exercises, .

And you can see my Video Deomonstration at Rye Beach on using Fantastic ENERGY MEDICINE Tools! 

I hope you find these tips helpful. If you or your family would like to learn more about any of these techniques and what Energy Medicine & Energy Psychology can do for you, just email me at amyreissner@VitalEssenceHealing.com

Please send comments on what you found effective and anything else that you do that helps! Please share with others! Like VitalEssenceHealing on FB and follow me on Twitter! 

Stay tuned to next blog on Summer Time Natural Remedy Tool Kit for Families!